PRUDHOE YC SENIORS 0
PARK VIEW AFC 3
IN their first Ebac Northern League Division Two match since October 10, Chester-le-Street-based team Park View AFC consolidated fifth place in the table with a 10th win of the season against second-bottom Prudhoe YC Seniors at Essity Park last Friday night.
The enforced break due to a number of the First Team squad being part of Park View's Academy side representing England in the International Schools Federation World Cup in China.
After a quiet opening, the first chance fell to the visitors on eight minutes when a through ball down the middle saw Prudhoe keeper Thomas White sprint off his line to block Zac Boddy's attempt in a solid 50/50 challenge.
The rebound fell to skipper Ben Gallagher, but he blazed wide with White out of position.
At the other end, White's long clearance was headed on by Tobi Rufai who outpaced his marker and was first to the loose ball near the byline before sending over a deep cross that drifted beyond keeper Trystan Hounsell, but couldn't be directed on target by Dan Lamb's ambitious overhead lick.
Breaking at pace down the left, the ball was fed to Park View centre forward Nathan Conroy who advanced before squaring to fellow striker Boddy who had a shot comfortably saved low down.
Moments later, a ball over the top presented Boddy with a gilt-edged one-on-one opportunity which he spurned by firing well wide of White's right-hand post.
The hosts came close on 14 minutes when winger Michael Harland cut inside from the left and unleashed a dipping 20-yard effort that was acrobatically tipped over the bar by Hounsell at full stretch. The talented 16-year-old Middlesbrough FC Academy keeper having started a second loan spell at the club earlier in the week.
Conceding the first goal has been an ongoing problem for relegation-threatened Prudhoe YC Seniors this season, and that was again the case here as poor defending gifted Park View the opener in the 16th minute.
A cross curled in by Gallagher from wide out on the left was allowed to bounce in the six-yard box before being poked over the line at the back post by Isaac Anderson, who had timed his run perfectly to get the wrong side of full-back Jensen Guthrie and register a first goal at this level (0-1).
Continuing to press, a couple of free-kicks launched into the box came to nothing before the hosts started to get a foothold in the game.
The lively Rufai brushed off his marker on the edge of the area before firing narrowly wide of Hounsell's right-hand post.
From a corner on the left won as a result of Harland's lung-bursting run, a close range effort was cleared off the line, and, a decent spell of possession in opposition territory culminated in Ryan Dougherty dragging a 20-yard left-footed shot off target.
Park View hadn't created much since taking the lead, before, out of nothing, doubling their advantage on 38 minutes through Ben Gallagher.
After being sent clear by a defence-splitting through ball, he got there ahead of the advancing White and, from the edge of the box, calmly chipped it over the keeper into the bottom left corner (0-2).
The visitors came close to a third on 43 minutes when winger Jacob Mallinson's 20-yard free-kick was tipped over by White at full stretch, and, from the resulting corner taken short, Gallagher had another effort blocked.
To their credit, Prudhoe didn't throw in the towel and ended the half on the attack.
A well-worked move involving Rufai, Steven Anderson and Dougherty saw the ball moved at pace from left to right across the face of the box before an unmarked Dougherty dragged a shot narrowly wide of Hounsell's right-hand post.
Park View's first opportunity of the second half, on 48 minutes, was blazed over the top by Gallagher.
White then did well to save Anderson's angled drive in a one-on-one after a cross from the left wasn't dealt with by his defenders.
The hosts rallied after the hour mark with Dougherty's corner punched by Hounsell before Gallagher completed the clearance, Harland's driving run into the box culminated in a low shot being kept out by Hounsell's legs, another pinpoint Dougherty corner was punched away from under the bar, while Rufai and full back Sam Asigri both failed to make a clean connection in the box when given the chance to seriously test Hounsell.
Either side of Prudhoe substitute Connor Lane being sin-binned on 81 minutes, less than five minutes after replacing Jonathan Swift, another two Dougherty corners were dealt with by Hounsell and towering central defender Alex Clark before a third one was headed over by substitute Zack Fisher from the edge of the six-yard box.
Park View defender Reyhan Grimaud came close on 84 minutes when his firm strike was kept out by White diving low to his right at full stretch, and they failed to convert an even better chance on the 90-minute mark when substitute Lewis Marshall headed over with no defenders around him.
The visitors' late pressure was finally rewarded deep into stoppage time when Gallagher added a third, firing one low just inside White's right-hand post after Boddy and Marshall had seen close range efforts blocked with one cleared off the line by Karl Connon (0-3).
Brushing aside the absence of top-scorer Charlie Loveday who was transferred to Division One leaders Bishop Auckland a fortnight ago, this was a third league win in a row on the road for a talented Park View side boasting an average age of just 18, while things don't get any easier for Prudhoe YC Seniors who have lost 17 of 19 league games and now face consecutive away trips to Jarrow, Grangetown Boys Club and FC Hartlepool in the next couple of weeks.
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